Staking Your Sidewalls
Between the improvement in appearance and the increase of safety, there really is no down side to spending an additional few moments securing the walls in place. There is even a step that only needs done once, and remains in place for each subsequent installation. What is it? You’ll have to read on.
Apart from the keder style of sidewalls we offer, most sidewalls are only attached to the tent at the very top. Each and every sidewall has a series of spring clips, which are connected to the line of rope that is installed around the perimeter of the tent top. And that’s it – leaving your wall to just hang down from the rope.
Standard installation has the walls hung on the outside of the support structure (either the poles or frame legs). Once the ends are secured, either to additional walls or wrapped around a leg and secured to itself, there is still the bottom that can be blown toward the interior of the tent and create an obstruction. Massive amounts of wind can cause problems with the base wall fabric, with the movement causing extra wear to the PVC and possibly creating pin holes or flaking.
When preparing to stake a sidewall, you’ll need two additional pieces of hardware:
- Rope
The type of rope that you’ll need for sidewall staking needs to have a diameter less than 7/16”, as the grommets or eyelets along the bottom of the wall have a center hole that size. While any rope will work, we suggest nylon or polyester for flexibility and durability.
- Anchoring Hook
Normally measuring around two feet long, anchoring hooks are simply steel stakes with a hooked or bent end at the top. These allow you to trap rope lines, cables, or other items underneath the hook when installed.
To begin, the rope of your choice is woven through the grommets along the base of the wall. If you haven’t guessed, this is the portion that you may only have to do once. If desired, you can cut the rope so that there is enough past each end to wrap around the staking location closest to the wall end, and leave the rope installed in the bottom grommets. Once the wall is installed and the rope inserted, the line should have all of the slack pulled out and be secured at each end. This can be done by knotting the rope at the last grommet location.
Anchoring hooks should be driven into the ground at the midpoint between grommet locations, with the hook looping over the top of the rope before hitting ground level. Never insert anchors of any kind directly into the grommet holes – this can cause massive damage to the wall. With all stakes driven into the ground, you’re done!
While not the most exciting part of a tent installation, it should be noted that staking your tent sidewalls will give your tent a cleaner, sleeker overall appearance and keep any extra wall movement from causing deterioration. Take good care of your sidewalls, and they’ll take good care of you.